Toy figures that can be changed from one configuration to another have been suggested in the past. One such toy figure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,442. The patent discloses a toy figure that can be changed from one discrete configuration (e.g., an egg) to another discrete configuration (e.g., an animal such as a duck). The toy is changed by folding back the outer covering of the egg and pushing the body portion of the animal through an opening in the egg covering. The portion of the covering that has been folded back is then locked in place by Velcro strips to maintain the figure in the configuration of an animal. The patentee indicates that the foregoing type of transformation is designed to serve an educational function by depicting to a child the transformation from an egg to a related animal.
Other types of changeable toy figures are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,396,776; 2,195,127; and 4,336,665. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,665, a stuffed toy figure has a body portion with two heads connected to each other, and a skirt which carries the toy's appendages. The skirt is inverted between one of two discrete positions to cover one head portion and expose the other head portion. The appendages carried by the skirt form the apendages associated with either of the head portions. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,396,766 and 2,195,127, there are also a pair of head portions connected to each other, and each head portion has at least some appendages also connected to it. A skirt, which does not carry appendages, is inverted between the head portions to cover one head portion and its associated appendages, and to expose the head portion and its associated appendages.
Finally, there are currently on the market toys known as "transformers", "go-bots", etc., which comprise mechanical elements that are manipulated to transform the toys between different configurations (e.g. between robots and vehicles).